Heavy truck production in Mexico plummeted 35.2 percent in May, year-over-year, to 12,141 units, the worst percentage drop in the last 46 months. In addition, it is the lowest production volume in the last 30 months, according to SteelOrbis analysis of data from the national statistics office Inegi.
Of the 12 heavy truck manufacturers in Mexico, seven decreased their production and those seven contributed 97.7 percent of the total. Three companies increased their production (contributing 2.3 percent of the total) and two remained without production.
This decline was the result of lower demand for trucks in the United States and the interruption of the supply chain. Furthermore, last April, the mirror factory for the automotive industry caught fire completely, said the spokesperson for the National Association of Bus, Truck and Tractor Producers (Anpact), Alejandro Osorio.
That company is the Mexican unit of the American Mekra Lang that supplies companies such as Freightliner, Kenworth, Mack, Mercedes Benz, Navistar, Peterbilt, Scania, Volvo, among others. Without mirrors, trucks are incomplete to market.
By company, the lower production in May was mainly influenced by the 88.0 percent drop in International Truck, which went from 5,764 units in May 2023 to only 690 units in May of this year.
Of the total production, 91.6 percent was concentrated in three companies: Freightliner (owned by the German Daimler Group) with 79.1 percent, Kenworth, the Mexican subsidiary of Paccar, Inc. (owner of the Peterbilt and DAF truck brands ) contributed 6.9 percent of the total and International Truck contributed 5.7 percent.
The rest of the production was distributed in Mercedes-Benz Buses, Volkswagen Trucks and Buses, Isuzu, Foton, Hino, Volvo Buses and the Mexican Dina.
In foreign trade, the volume of May exports decreased 33.1 percent, year-over-year, to 9,932 units. This exported volume is the lowest in the last 30 months (since December 2021).
In the accumulated January-May period, 79,900 units were manufactured and 63,404 units were exported, volumes that represented drops of 15.0 percent and 15.8 percent, respectively, compared to the same period in 2023.